Products such as absorbent articles are often used to collect and retain human body exudates containing, for example, urine, menses and/or blood. Comfort, absorbency, and discretion are three main product attributes and areas of concern for the wearer of the product. In particular, a wearer is often interested in knowing that such products will absorb significant volumes of body exudates with minimal leakage in order to protect their undergarments, outer garments, or bedsheets from staining, and that such products will help them avoid the subsequent embarrassment brought on by such staining.
Currently, a wide variety of products for absorption of body exudates are available in the form of feminine pads, sanitary napkins, panty shields, pantiliners, and incontinence devices. These products generally have an absorbent core positioned between a body-facing liquid permeable topsheet layer and a garment-facing liquid impermeable backsheet layer. The edges of the topsheet and the backsheet layers are often bonded together at their periphery to form a seal to contain the absorbent core and body exudates received into the product through the topsheet layer. In use, such products are typically positioned in the crotch portion of an undergarment for absorption of the body exudates and a garment attachment adhesive on the backsheet layer can be used to attach the product to the inner crotch portion of the undergarment. Some of these products can also include wing-like structures for wrapping about the wearer's undergarment to further secure the product to the undergarment and to protect the undergarment from staining. Such wing-like structures (also known as flaps or tabs) are frequently made from lateral extensions of the topsheet and/or backsheet layers.
These commercial products, however, suffer from certain drawbacks. For example, the inner crotch portion of an undergarment, to which these products are adhered, is continually distorted, twisted and stretched due to the dynamics of the wearer of the product. As a result, the product may detach from the undergarment causing the undesirable consequence of the product moving out of place. Furthermore, while the product frequently reattaches to the undergarment, the reattachment often places the product in an undesirable position wherein the product will no longer function properly.
Additionally, while attempts have been made to design such products to provide a better contoured fit in the perineal area, one of the difficulties in attempting to design such a product is that women have an almost infinite variety of body shapes and muscle tone in the upper thigh region and, therefore, products which may provide superior comfort and protection for some women due to their configuration, may actually be deficient in these characteristics when worn by women with a different body type.
It has also been recognized that a certain percentage of the female population have an extremely heavy flow during certain portions of the menstrual cycle. Additionally, some women may have heavy menstrual discharge early in the morning due to retention of menses during sleep and a sudden discharge upon awakening. Women may also experience leakage of body exudates from the back of the product, such as when sleeping, which can occur when the body exudates moves backward along the body towards an area where coverage is not being provided by the product. Current commercial products can be deficient in providing the area of coverage that a woman may feel is necessary to provide sufficient protection against leakage and staining.
While such feminine care products are widely used, leakage of body exudates remains a top ranked concern among wearers of such products. Such leakage can result in staining of undergarments, outer garments, and/or bedsheets which is unacceptable to the wearer. Conventional products have attempted to address the concern of product leakage through a variety of efforts such as by adding additional absorbent layers to the feminine care product. Conventional products, however, have not provided the desired combination of comfort, versatility and leakage protection. For example, conventional products have not been able to deliver a high level of protection against leakage without the additional discomfort of providing a larger or bulkier feminine care product. A wearer, such as, for example, a woman responding to her level of menstrual flow, may, therefore, resort to utilizing multiple different products throughout the duration of time during which a need exists for an absorbent product.
As a result, there remains a need for an improved product, such as an absorbent article, that is more readily adaptable and which can provide additional coverage as needed by the individual wearer.